


Laid Bare

by Afonso



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Lena Luthor Doesn't Know Kara Danvers is Supergirl, Mild Sexual Content, Pre-Relationship, summary is bad give it a chance, very mild don't get your hopes up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 15:18:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19359586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Afonso/pseuds/Afonso
Summary: Kara hasn't answered Lena's calls or texts all day, and Lena worries throughout her meetings, wondering if her favourite reporter is all right. After slowly losing every last bit of her chill, she decides to go to her best friend's apartment. She finds someone unexpected in there. Shock descends and then fluff ensues.





	Laid Bare

Lena decides that she has no choice but to use her spare key to Kara’s apartment. Her best friend had not answered any of her calls nor responded to any of her texts for nearly half a day. The reporter had never done this before throughout their friendship - never waited three rings before answering Lena’s calls, nor more than an hour before replying to Lena’s texts. Once, Lena even suspected from the echoey background that Kara was taking her call while in the toilet. 

And then James had mumbled something about Kara being sick when she’d marched into his office to ask him, all bossy and demanding. 

Lena had sat in her office, pretending to be concentrating on her work while chewing her lip and wringing her hands as the minutes crawled by, until it was a reasonable time to knock off, all the while wishing for Kara to _just contact her for God’s sake_. She even checked her phone during a board meeting - an action she considered hugely unprofessional and never did before she met Kara. She checked her phone multiple times, felt guilty each time, but did it again anyway 10 minutes later.

The same thoughts danced around her brain the whole time. _Kara, sick_ . Kara had never been sick in the one-and-half years Lena had known her, and Lena was worried. She justified to herself that it was perfectly normal to be _concerned_ for her best friend. Especially a best friend who cared so much for her and who, most importantly, _never fell sick_ and everyone knows that people who never fall sick get extremely ill when they do. There was no scientific basis, but _everybody knew._

When Kara had pressed her spare key into Lena’s palm and closed her fist around it months ago, she had said that Lena was to have no qualms using it. Lena remembers blinking back tears and keeping her head down as she carefully tucked away the keys in the secret compartment of her bag and thanked Kara for her trust. Her voice was thick and she had averted Kara's gaze, embarrassed by the pricking in her eyes.

Back in the present, this memory is circulating in Lena’s mind as she finds herself pacing outside Kara’s door, spare key and chicken soup in hand, at 7.30pm. She rings the doorbell, knocks and calls out to Kara. No response. She takes deep breaths, trying to muster the courage to use the key for the first time. _Kara said I could. Anytime I wanted to. She did say that. Anytime. Now is as good a time as any._

She takes three tries to unlock the door. Another deep breath to calm her nerves.

“Kara, It’s Lena. Are you at home? Are you ok?” She tries again as she closes the door behind her. Still no sound.

She places the soup on the kitchen counter and scans the living room. The bathroom door is open, and it is devoid of one cute but sick reporter. Her worry escalates. Is Kara so sick that she can’t get out of bed? She walks into the bedroom, and her heart almost stops.

* * *

Kara is passed out on her bed, sleeping soundly, her mouth half-open. The sight is adorable but that isn’t what made her heart skip a beat. Instead of the fuzzy bunny-motif pajamas that the blonde usually wore on movie night, “Kara” is wearing Supergirl’s outfit. Lena claps her hand over her mouth. The connections that she had unconsciously been trying to block out from her mind with every Supergirl encounter resurface now, as clear as the ‘S’-shaped symbol on Kara’s rising and falling chest. Why Lena is always snatched from death’s maw whenever Kara is nearby. Why Supergirl is always there for her, sometimes looks into her eyes as though she knows _everything_ about Lena. Why Kara always gets mad when someone says anything bad about Supergirl.

“I flew here on a bus.”

“You dreamt that I was carrying you while flying, like Supergirl? I _wish_.”

“I was never in danger, Lena.”

Her mild-mannered best friend is the girl of steel. She smacks her forehead, annoyed that she hadn’t realised this most obvious of all truths earlier. She knows exactly why Kara didn’t tell her, knows it’s not because she’s a Luthor. Kara “protect-everyone-I-love-at-all-costs” Danvers. She sighs. Giving in to her curiosity, she bends down and takes a closer look at Kara. Without her spectacles, golden hair spread out all around her, Kara is even more beautiful than her usual self, and Lena kicks herself again for not realising it earlier.  “ _What’s the point of being a chess prodigy when you can’t see through the lousiest disguise and the worst liar in the world?”_ She asks herself wryly.

Kara snuffles, closes her mouth and curls her legs up to her chest in a foetal position, and Lena freezes. Eyes still closed, Supergirl pulls her cape over herself and snuggles into it. Lena is extremely tempted to snap a photo of National City’s favourite superhero sleeping like a baby. 

Lena just stands and watches for a while. A soft smile plays on her face, mirroring the one on the sleeping superhero. When Kara frowns and adjusts her position again, Lena's worry returns, making her stomach squirm. Kara seemed fine, but she still had to check. Gently, with her heart beating ridiculously fast, she puts her hand on Kara's forehead. It's warm, but she knew her best friend ran hot, so she didn't think it was feverish-warm. Lena's shoulders relax.

All worries put to rest, Lena decides to try calling Alex, just for the fun of hearing what she has to say in Kara’s defense. Alex had not responded to any of Lena’s texts about Kara’s whereabouts all day, and Lena is feeling a little vengeful. Both the Danvers sisters are terrible liars, though Kara definitely takes the cake. Since Kara is asleep now and Lena can’t bear to wake her up, even though she is slightly mad at her, Lena decides to exact her revenge on Alex first.

Lena has to suppress what she always thought her evil Luthor laugh would sound like as she waits for Alex to pick up.

“Lena - what’s up?” 

“I just saw Kara _flying_ off from L-Corp’s rooftop. She was dressed as Supergirl.”

“That’s not possible. She’s sleeping off a...a flu...at home.”

“I know what I saw.”

A pause. Alex tries a different tactic. “Ha ha ha ha! Lena, are you drunk?” Alex’s laughter is so fake that Lena has to bite down on her lip to stop herself from giggling and giving away the game. 

“Alex, I think I can recognise _my best friend_ without her specs and with her hair down, thank you very much.” Lena lets a little bit of the indignation she actually feels creep into her tone.

“Ok Lena, I’ll tell you the truth.”

“Have you known all this while that she’s Supergirl?”

“It’s a Hallowe’en costume.”

Lena hangs up and doubles over in mirth.

Her laughter stirs Kara from her sleep. She rubs her eyes but doesn’t sit up. 

“Lena? What’re you doing here? Is it m’birthday?” She mumbles nonsensically. Her lips pull up into a smile as she eyes Lena sleepily. 

“Not m’birthday. You’re at work. Must be dreaming,” she mutters decidedly. She closes her eyes again, but the corners of her mouth are pulled down. She looks disappointed. Lena deliberates waking Kara up, if only just to see her smile her just-for-Lena smile again before she guilt-trips her about the Supergirl thing. Her phone rings. She steps out of the room to answer it, in case she collapses into giggles halfway and wakes Kara up again. She looks so peaceful, one hand fisting her cape now as she curls her body sideways.

“Alex. Ready to tell me the truth now?”

“Lena...”

Lena lets the silence stretch between them. She knows Alex will crack first.

“Look, Lena...sorry, I couldn’t, okay? Kara will kill me. This is something she really wanted to tell you herself. She talked about telling you every day. Although I really don’t know how she can be flying right now. She ingested 20 gallons of aldebaran rum this morning and was drop-dead drunk. It’s a long story - she had to do it to defeat an alcoholic alien. I only managed to put her to bed with the help of five men from my team. She’s supposed to be sleeping it off at home. I’m going to _kill_ her...once I find her. I’ll get her to explain everything to you later, okay? Right now I need to gather a squad to look for her.” 

Lena’s eyes widen. “No no, I was just pulling your leg, Alex. She’s still sleeping in her apartment. I saw her in her full Supergirl costume when I came over with some chicken soup. I was a little mad but I didn’t want to wake her up, so I decided to call you for revenge. And a bit of a laugh.” Lena’s brows are furrowed with guilt now, for making Alex worry, and she cringes at her own childish prank. “Sorry.”

Alex lets out a long breath. “Okay, I can’t say I didn’t deserve that, since I was in on it as well, but Lena. _Do not_ ever joke when it comes to Kara’s safety. _I mean it_.” The steel in Alex’s voice manages to send a shiver down Lena’s spine, even though the Luthor has been receiving actual death threats for 10 years now. “Yes, Director Danvers,” Lena says, swallowing hard.

“You can make it up to me by taking a picture of her expression when you tell her you know!” Alex says gleefully, murderous tone replaced with mirth at the thought of Kara’s sure-to-be-epic reaction. “I have to call off the search now. Have fun, bye!” 

When Lena returns to Kara’s bedroom again, she finds the superhero fully awake now and staring at her, flabbergasted, her mouth opening and closing. Lena can almost see the cogs turning in the blonde’s head as she tries, in vain, to think of an explanation, _any_ explanation. Lena quickly snaps a picture. 

The Kryptonian’s bright blue eyes cloud with guilt and she hangs her head. “I’m so sorry, Lena. I wanted to tell you. _Every day._ ” She says the last two words with such a solemn look on her face that Lena forgives her immediately.

“I understand, Kara.”

“You know it’s not because you’re a Luthor, right?” Kara asks, her hands flying to cup Lena's shoulders, eyes wide with concern.

“It’s because you want to protect me. I know that’s all you’ve ever wanted to do from the first day you met me, Kara. I can’t say I’m not a little mad and a little hurt and a little disappointed that you didn’t tell me sooner, but...” Lena bites her lip, smiles up at Kara, dares to put her hand on Kara’s cheek, strokes it affectionately with her thumb. “...something tells me I won’t be able to stay upset at you when you’re looking like _that.”_ Kara looks shocked, but as Lena tries to withdraw her hand, the blonde claps her hand over Lena’s, and leans into the CEO’s touch.

Kara swallows hard, takes a deep breath. “Another reason why I wanted to tell you...is because...I’m pretty sure that, like me, you want to be more than best friends...and we can’t be _that_ with such a big lie between us.” Kara stares at the floor as her face heats up, not daring to look up until Lena puts both hands on Kara’s face and kisses her until the Kryptonian is out of breath. She wants more the moment Kara’s lips leave hers. “Wow,” Kara sighs reverently. “I’ve never been out of breath before.”

Lena is equally short of air, and gasps with pleasure as Kara’s lips plot a route from Lena’s lips down to her neck, resting dangerously near the Luthor's chest. 

“Let's help you along,” Lena smirks, a beatific grin forming on her face. Lena takes off her own top, and revels in the sight of Kara’s eyes growing dark. “Now, your turn.”

Kara smirks back as she reaches for Lena’s hand and guides it to the zip at the back of her supersuit.

The costume is as skin-tight as it looks. Lena patiently, slowly, rolls it down the alien’s body, her eyes never leaving Kara’s baby blues. Lena’s eyes grow darker with desire as the superhero’s body is revealed in just her underwear. Lena beholds the full glory of the biceps she always suspected lurked underneath the reporter’s long-sleeved shirts. Kara lets Lena push her back down onto the bed, and Lena kisses each one of Kara’s six rock-hard abs. Lena runs her fingers over them, marvelling at how defined they look.

They spend the rest of the night in a similar fashion. 

* * *

 

The next morning, Kara is bashful over breakfast. She sips her coffee and hides her blushing face behind the mug, asks Lena, “When I said I knew you wanted to be _more than friends_ , you know I meant...more than just what we did last night, right?”

“Yes, Kara, it was infinitely clear to me,” Lena drawls with a flirtatious smile, before her face grows serious, her green eyes staring into Kara’s as though she can see the God Particle in there. “You mean more to me than anything.” Kara looks as though she can’t believe her luck, and she is kissing Lena again, can’t seem to stop doing it, until her phone buzzes. She looks at the text from Alex and immediately flings a cushion at Lena.

“Why does Alex have that picture of me?”


End file.
